Association between chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis and papillary thyroid carcinoma: A retrospective study in surgical specimens.

Introduction: The hypothesis of an association between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) continues to generate debate. Retrospective studies suggest that there is a greater probability of diagnosing a PTC in surgical specimens with CLT; however, prospective studies suggest that there is no true increase in risk.

Methods: An analytical, cross-section measurement and retrospective study was carried out considering gender, age and diagnosis of CLT and PTC in surgical specimens. A binary logistic regression model was proposed to predict the probability of carrying out the diagnosis of PTC based on the diagnosis of CLT, gender and age.

Results: The study population consisted of 1136 patients, 1047 (92.2%) women and 89 (7.8%) men, with an average age of 47.5±14.3 years. The prevalence of CLT and PTC was 14.9% and 16.1% respectively. Coexistence between PTC and CLT was found in 44 patients, corresponding to 3.9% of the population. Our logistic regression model suggests that the probability of diagnosing PTC in surgical specimens of male patients under 40 years old and with CLT is 53.8%.

Conclusions: We suggest that there is a greater probability of diagnosing PTC in surgical specimens with confirmatory histological data for CLT; in addition, in males under 40 years old this probability increases.